Fruit juice

Juice is a liquid naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue. Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fresh fruits or vegetables without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree. Juice may be prepared in the home from fresh fruits and vegetables using variety of hand or electric juicers. Many commercial juices are filtered to remove fibre or pulp, but high pulp fresh orange juice is a popular beverage. Juice may be marketed in concentrate form, sometimes frozen, requiring the user to add water to reconstitute the liquid back to its "original state". However, concentrates generally have a noticeably different taste than their comparable "fresh-squeezed" versions. Other juices are reconstituted before packaging for retail sale. Common methods for preservation and processing of fruit juices include canning, pasteurisation, freezing, evaporation and spray drying.

Varieties

Popular juices include but are not limited to apple, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, tomato, passion fruit, mango, carrot, grape, cranberry and pomegranate. It has become increasingly popular to combine a variety of fruits into single juice drinks. Popular blends include cran-apple (cranberry and apple) and apple and blackcurrant. A demonstration of this trend is that prepackaged single fruit juices have lost market share to prepackaged fruit juice combinations. A number of new companies have had considerable success supplying prepackaged fruit juice permutations on the basis of this transition.

Juice is also commonly found in many cooking recipes from various cultures. The most popular are lime and lemon juice which help to add a slightly more sour or bitter taste to dishes.

5 a day; fruit and vegetable portion sizes

We have recently started to take delivery of a weekly organic fruit and vegetable box which has of course heightened our interest in the 5 a day fruit and vegetable regime. This simple app will show you what makes up one of your 5 a day portions of vegetables. You'll be surprised how small the quantities are in some instances. You'll be able to eat healthier and feel all the better for it.

Select a fruit or vegetable from the picker below to see what its daily portion consists of

What are you waiting for? Pick your fruit and veg now!

3 heaped tablespoons of tinned Ackee

2 Globe Artichoke hearts

7 spears of tinned asparagus

5 spears of fresh asparagus

One third of an Aubergine/Eggplant

3 heaped tablespoons of barlotti beans

3 heaped tablespoons of black-eyed beans

3 heaped tablespoons of broad beans

3 heaped tablespoons of butter beans

3 heaped tablespoons of cannellini beans

4 heaped tablespoons of French beans

3 heaped tablespoons of kidney beans

3 heaped tablespoons of pinto beans

4 heaped tablespoons of runner beans

3 heaped tablespoons of soya beans

2 handfuls of fresh bean sprouts

3 whole bottled beetroot

3 whole fresh baby beetroot

2 spears of broccoli

8 Brussels sprouts

3 heaped tablespoons of butternut squash

2 handfuls of sliced cabbage

3 heaped tablespoons of shredded cabbage

3 heaped tablespoons of tinned carrots

3 heaped tablespoons of fresh carrot slices

8 florets of cauliflower

3 sticks of celery

3 heaped tablespoons of chickpeas

One fifth of a head of Chinese leaves

Half a large courgette

5 cm (2 inch) piece of cucumber

4 heaped tablespoons of curly kale

Half a karela (bitter melon)

1 leek (white portion only)

3 tablespoons of lentils

1 cereal bowl of lettuce (mixed leaves)

1 handful of mange-tout

3 heaped tablespoons of marrow

3 tablespoons of frozen mixed vegetables

14 mushrooms

2 tablespoons of dried mushrooms

16 medium Okra

1 medium Onion

3 heaped tablespoons of pak choi (Chinese cabbage)

1 large Parsnip

3 heaped tablespoons of tinned peas

3 heaped tablespoons of fresh peas

3 heaped tablespoons of frozen peas

Half a tinned sweet pepper

Half a bottled sweet pepper

Half a fresh sweet pepper

3 heaped tablespoons of tinned pigeon peas

3 heaped tablespoons of pumpkin

10 Radishes

2 heaped tablespoons of cooked spinach

1 cereal bowl of fresh spinach leaves

4 heaped tablespoons of cooked spring greens

8 spring onions

1 handful of sugar snap peas

3 heaped tablespoons of swede

1 large sweet potato

6 baby sweetcorn

3 heaped tablespoons of tinned sweetcorn

1 whole sweetcorn cob

1 heaped tablespoon of tomato puree

2 whole tinned plum tomatoes

1 whole fresh tomato

7 fresh cherry tomatoes

3 heaped tablespoons of turnip

150ml glass of unsweetened vegetable juice

150ml glass of vegetable smoothie

1 cereal bowl of fresh watercress

1 fresh apple

2 heaped tablespoons of apple puree

6 halves of unsweetened tinned apricots

3 whole fresh apricots

Half an avocado

1 banana

10 blackberries

4 heaped tablespoons of blackcurrants

4 heaped tablespoons of blueberries

11 tinned cherries

14 fresh cherries

2 clementines

6 damsons

3 fresh dates

2 fresh figs

150ml glass of unsweetened fruit juice

3 heaped tablespoons of tinned fruit salad

3 heaped tablespoons of fresh fruit salad

150ml glass of fruit smoothie

1 handful of gooseberries

8 segments of tinned grapefruit

half a fresh grapefruit

1 handful of grapes

2 kiwi fruit

8 Kumquats

6 tinned lychees

6 fresh lychees

3 heaped tablespoons of tinned mandarin oranges

1 fresh mandarin orange

2 slices of fresh mango (5cm or 2 inch)

1 slice of melon (5cm or 2 inch)

1 nectarine

1 orange

6 passion fruits

1 slice of pawpaw (papaya)

2 halves of tinned peaches

1 fresh peach

2 halves of tinned pears

1 fresh pear

2 rings of tinned pineapple

3 tablespoons of crushed pineapple

1 large slice of fresh pineapple

2 plums

6 tinned prunes

3 prunes

20 tinned raspberries

2 handfuls of fresh raspberries

5 chunks of tinned rhubarb

2 heaped tablespoons of cooked rhubarb

2 satsumas

1 sharon fruit

9 tinned strawberries

7 fresh strawberries

1 heaped tablespoon of sultanas

2 tangerines

1 heaped tablespoon of tomato puree

2 tinned whole tinned plum tomatoes

1 large fresh tomato

7 fresh cherry tomatoes

4 dried apple rings

3 whole dried apricots

1 handful of dried banana chips

1 heaped tablespoon of dried cherries

1 heaped tablespoon of dried cranberries

1 heaped tablespoon of dried currants

2 dried figs

1 heaped tablespoon of dried mangoes

1 heaped tablespoon of dried mixed fruit

2 halves of dried peaches

2 halves of dried pear

1 heaped tablespoon of dried pineapple

3 dried prunes

1 tablespoon of raisins

4 sundried tomatoes

Fruit juice: What portion size makes one of my 5 a day?

Select Fruit juice from the drop-down selector below to find out what constitutes one portion of your 5-a-day fruits.